Dennis
by smiddy
Summary: Dennis and George are grieving for their brothers. A short look at the aftermath of the final battle.


"Dennis – you are not alone in this… We are the DA , you are part of the DA always have been, and we're in this together. The two of us maybe more so than all the others since we were the closest to the two who died."

George watched the teenager closely. The last couple of days had been hard. He had been living in a haze, not really taking notice of anything around him. Fred was gone. Fred – his twin, his partner in crime, his other half. Part of him was missing and would never come back. He didn't know how to live, how to function without Fred.

Somehow in his stupor he heard his brother Ron talking with Harry about Colin and Dennis Creevy. How Dennis, too, had lost his brother, whom he was very close to. Somehow this was the first thing George really got aware of since he had first seen Fred's dead body lying in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. He had only had one thought all the time: He's gone. He's dead. Gone. Dead. Gone…. He hadn't really seen or heard anything since then, until Dennis' name caught his ear. Ron had been quite startled though immensely pleased when after almost two weeks George had spoken for the first time.

And now he sat here, on the back porch of the Creevey's house in the Outskirts of Manchester. Dennis was a mess. Seeing the boy looking so lost gave George an idea of how he must have looked like throughout the last weeks and how that must have worried his family. Dennis barely spoke. The only thing he kept saying was: "I'm alone now. I'm all alone."

As much as he hated it, but George had to admit to himself that to some extend Dennis really was alone. Though two years apart, the brothers had been very close. Dennis had idolized his older brother. Colin had be the one to introduce him to the magical world. They were Muggleborns and Dennis had only learned about the Wizarding world, when his brother had gotten his Hogwarts letter some six years ago. Though both boys had missed their parents, like most Muggleborns they had drifted apart from their family. Living in different world would do that eventually. There were so many things they couldn't explain to their parents. They just weren't part of their life in the Magical world. Colin had been Dennis only connection between the two worlds. Dennis had never made many friends at Hogwarts. But he hadn't needed to. He always had Colin and the two of them were enough for each other.

But now, with Colin gone, Dennis didn't really have any one left in the Wizarding world. After a year in hiding, the connection had already been strained. And now it was like all ties were cut. But Dennis didn't feel like he belonged into the Muggleworld either. He didn't have any Muggle education. His hobbys had all been wizarding things, his parents didn't really understand him any longer. And he barely had any contacts left to the extended family or any former friends from primary school or in the neighborhood.

He didn't belong. He was alone. And it was eating him alive.

"Dennis - look at me!"

Only after he asked him a second time, this time much louder, did Dennis look up. His eyes were empty.

"I admit, Dennis, that to some extend I'm probably not able to relate to you. But to some extend, I can. I feel so lost since Fred is g… is… gone. I still can't comprehend it. I keep waiting for him to finish my sentences when I'm speaking. We were always a unity. Two parts to a piece. And now there's only one half left. The piece will never be whole again and I have no idea how to live, how to function with part of me missing. I won't be hypocritical here and tell you that everything will be okay and I know that you can do it, bla bla bla…. That's what everyone keeps telling me but I have no idea how to do it and it will never be okay. But we have to find a way to go on."

For a moment George fell silent, both of them lost on thought, lost in grieve, lost in desperation.

"You know, I talked to Harry the other day. Maybe you should too. I think if anyone knows how to deal with grief, with loss, with the feeling of being alone, it is him. Boy, he had more than enough of that throughout his life. I always wondered how he did it, how he found the strength to go on. Now so more than ever, since I lost my brother and I get an idea of how it feels like to loose someone. I asked him about it. You know what he said?"

Dennis looked up at him, a slight trace of hope in his eyes to hear something that would make it easier.

"He said that the pain will never go away."

His face fell. So much for hoping…

"But he also said it gets easier to deal with. Slowly. And there will always be times when it hurts, when the pain becomes unbearable. But those moments will get fewer and shorter with time. He told me not to try to not think about Fred. Because it won't work. But I should try to concentrate on the good memories. Be thankful for the time we had, remember how much light he brought into my life and also how much light I brought into his life."

Tears were now running freely down George's face. He was fighting to compose himself but then remembered what his mother had said. He had to allow himself to grief. Repressing the emotions would only make it worse. He thought, he needed to be strong for Dennis. But then, if Dennis had to allow himself to grief, so had he. And how better to do it then sharing said grief.

Dennis was still staring into space. Numb. Empty.

Not knowing what else to do, George did, what he had learned in his huge and loving family. He just grabbed Dennis, hugged him fiercely, and held him as he finally allowed himself to let go. Dennis was shaking now, sobs running through his body.

And so they just sat there, holding onto each other for dear life. Crying, sobbing for their brothers, for the horrors they had lived through, for the unfairness of it all, for the loss of those who were far too young to die.

Not knowing whether it had been minutes or hours, they finally both calmed down, having cried themselves dry.

"I'm sorry. God, what am I doing… Crying like a baby, soaking your shirt… I'm sorry."

Dennis averted his gaze, obviously embarrassed. He looked up, when he heard a quick 'scourgify'.

"There, all gone," said George and showed him his once again flawless and dry shirt. "There's nothing to embarrassed about. If I may…" he said, gesturing to Dennis' shirt, which was equally soaked through, where George's face had lain.

Another 'scourgify' and Dennis , too, was once again cleaned up.

"Don't hide your feelings, Dennis. Don't deny yourself to cry. And don't feel embarrassed about it. Nobody will think any less of you. And if they do, they are jerks. Jerks who don't know what it feels like to love and loose. It took me a while myself to be able to cry. But I actually felt relieved after."

"So do I. It's weird. It doesn't hurt any less, but it feels a little more bearable now."

"Yeah I know. Guess we'll be some Cry-Babys for a while", George said, a hint of the twin's trademark mischievous smile showing on his face.


End file.
